Tristan Quilt #3


(picture from Loomis)

1395 Apx - Tristan Quilt #3

This quilt is in the hands of a private individual and is also not available to the public.

The remaining portion of this quilt measures 8 feet 2 inches square. It has lost the upper half and both side borders. "IT is easy to recognize the same technique of needlework and padding as in the other Sicilian coverlets, the same Lombardic lettering, the same foliage patterns twining between the human figures." (Loomis p 65)

The main difference in this quilt is that the central area is covered in fleurs de lis suggesting that the quilt was commissioned for a member of the French dynasty of Naples. "The center of the coverlet in it's original state was filled by a circular frame containing two figures and their names. In the half which is left we see a woman's skirt and feet, a man's legs and girdled waist, and a tasseled cord.(Loomis p 65) Only portions of the names remain.

In this quilt there is a smaller border around the center area with the inscription in it. Then, the larger border appears to be very cimilar to the other two Sicilian Tristan quilts.

sources: Arthurian Legends in Medieval Art by Roger Sherman Loomis
Medieval Craftsmen Embroiderers by Kay Staniland
Quilting by Avril Colby

Email the page owner Lady Almaith

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